A Leighton Baines penalty and Kevin Mirallas's strike gave the hosts a half time lead that they never looked like surrendering.

Moyes got a mixed reception from the Goodison crowd before the game, with some supporters said to be unhappy with the way he tried to take star left-back Leighton Baines with him to United on the cheap.

And he was left ruing the failure to land his man when Baines punished a needless handball by Phil Jones by stepping up and converting a 28th minute penalty to hand the hosts a deserved lead.

Two minutes before half time Everton doubled their advantage as Kevin Mirallas raced onto a wonderful through ball from Seamus Coleman to finish smartly with an angled drive past David De Gea.

ROUT: United were comprehensively beaten by an impressive Everton [REUTERS]

United didn't improve much in the second, failing to create any real problems for Roberto Martinez's side.

In fact it was Everton who looked more likely to bag a third, and they almost did through Steven Naismith, but De Gea was equal to his shot.

Ex-Toffee Wayne Rooney came closest to scoring for the visitors, but Tim Howard pulled off a super stop to preserve a clean sheet and ensure the Toffees closed the gap to Arsenal to just a single point with three games left to play.

The defeat leaves United six points behind Tottenham, and facing an uphill battle to qualify for the Europa League.